Sweet End of Summer {Farm Update}

The air was fresh, sweet and a bit nippy this morning as summer begins to wind down here in the mountains. The nights have been cool, queuing the leaves to turn from deep green to golden amber and burnt orange in the higher elevations.

While this summer has seemed to fly by, it has been very enjoyable and relaxed. I have been resisting the urge to embark on any new projects and instead have been focusing on buttoning up what’s already been started.

Settling in Their New Hive and a Hungry Black Bear

My recently captured swarm – which split from another one of my hives that had gotten overcrowded – seems to be settling into their new hive, which my father constructed from two supers and a couple pieces of spare plywood.  As soon as I have some extra money I will purchase a spare hive to have on hand in case they ever decide to swarm again.  I ordered another hive and some honey supers, which should arrive today (thanks to Rossman Apairies’s great service and willingness to ship the same day I ordered to help me out!).  I plan to put the temporary hive on top of the new hive I ordered, in hopes that over the winter they will travel down into the deep body and I can clean and reuse the honey supers for there intended purpose.

Now that the crowding in the hives is undercontrol I am dealing with a hungry blackbear!  He has already forced me to move the hives from my house down to my parents, but they cluster of homes (and dogs) don’t seem to phase him, as he has been spotted curiously checking out my neighbors chicken coop the last couple of nights.  Looks like an electric fence will be necessary!